Citrus seed clouding agent for beverage bases and food products

ABSTRACT

Clouding agents are prepared from the whole seed kernels of citrus fruits by preparing a paste from the whole seed kernels, partially defatted seed kernels, seed meal in combination with citrus seed oil or other fats, and combining these agents with water, gum acacia and the flavor oil from the citrus fruit to form an emulsion.

I United States Patent 1 3,660,105 Kesterson et al. [451 May 2, 1972 s41CITRUS SEED CLOUDING AGENT FOR 2,893,869 7/1959 Beck et a1 ....99/7s B A2,929,719 3/1960 Walbum ..99/205 B SES AND FOOD 3,037,975 6/1962 Cohn..99/105 3,353,961 11/1967 Simon ..99/78 7 Inventors: James w Kesterson,wi Haven 3,404,990 10/1968 Stampe "Q9/105- Rudolph l-lendrickson,deceased, late of Lake Alfred, Fla. by Rosalind A. Hen- OTHERPUBLICATIONS drickson, heir; Cedric D. Atkins, Winter Hackh' s ChemicalDictionary 4th Ed. Grant McGraw- Hill Haven, Fla. NY. 1969 p. 4

[73] Assignee: State of Florida, Department of Citrus Primary ExaminerNorman Yudkofi- [22] Filed; July 25 9 9 Assistant Examiner-Hiram H.Bernstein Attorney-James J. Brown [21] Appl. No.: 844,984

[57] ABSTRACT [52] us. Cl. ..99/28, 99/105, 99/134, Clouding agents areprepared from the whole seed kernels of 99/ 129, 99/19, 252/311 citrusfruits by preparing a paste from the whole seed kernels, [51] Int. Cl...A23l l/00, B01 j 13/00 partially defatted seed kernels, seed meal incombination with [58] Field of Search ..99/204, 205, 103, 105, 28,citrus seed oil or other fats, and combining these agents with 99/78,140, 17; 252/312, 311; 260/4122, 412.4 water, gum acacia and the flavoroil from the citrus fruit to form an emulsion. References and 11 Claims,1 Drawing Figure UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,500,670 7/1924 De Groote..99/28 IOO *- OC.P.ORANGE on. 40 o-cxrnus SEED MEAL 1- 0-?57.. DEFATTEDSEED KERNELS 13-50% DEFATTED SEED KERNELS I-WHOLE cmaus SEED KERNELSA-BROMINATED SESAME on. A-GLYCERATED ROSIN EMULSION I l l l l I l l l Jl o 2 4 s a 10 12 STORAGE TIME AT ROOM TEMPERATURE WEE KS CITRUS SEEDCLOUDING AGENT FOR BEVERAGE BASES AND FOOD PRODUCTS This inventionrelates to a new clouding agent for food products and a method formaking the clouding agent. More particularly, this invention relates tothe manufacture of efiective clouding agents from the whole seed kernelsor partially defatted seed kernels of citrus fruits and in particular,oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, lemons and limes.

it is known in the art to employ various clouding agents in beverages inorder to give a natur turbidity to the final drink. Two of the mostcommonly used clouding agents for this purpose are brominated seed oilsand glycerated rosin.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,990 to Villadsen et al. discloses employing an agentfor imparting stable cloudiness which consists of fine particles ofnatural citrus fruit eloudifier and natural citrus fruit coloring matterderived or extracted from the peels and/or rags of citrus fruits.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,995,448 to Kew et al. discloses stabilizing the cloud incitrus juices by incorporating a water extract of grape leaves.

Finally, U.S. Pat. No. l,955,849 to Finley discloses employing colloidswhich are capable of forming gels into citrus juices to stabilize thesuspension.

According to the present invention, it has been found that superiorcloud retention is obtained in beverages by the inclusion of minoramounts of an emulsion made from the whole seed kernels of citrusfruits. The whole seed kernel emulsion of this invention is prepared bya process which comprises the steps of washing citrus seeds, which canconveniently be obtained from commercial citrus juice processing plants,to remove rag and pulp particles. Lime, Ca(OH) can also be used in thewash to eliminate the slimy coating that surrounds the seeds. The seedsare then screened, for example, over a V4- inch hardware cloth or othersuitable screen, washed, rinsed, and drained, and finally dried in adrier that is suitable, for example, for dehydrating citrus pulp. Theexhaust temperature of the drier should be kept sufficiently low toprevent charting and darkening of the seed kernels. The moisture contentof the whole dried seeds is reduced to a level that will pennit theseeds to be handled effectively without heating or molding. Hulls arethen removed from the whole seeds by a suitable process, such as flakingand screening, etc., that will give a clean seed kernels. The seedkernels are then ground and mashed into a paste from which the finalemulsion is prepared. if desired, the seed kernels can also be defattedand de-bittered by solvent extraction. This seed clouding agent can thenbe combined with citrus seed oil or other fats to give the desired cloudto the beverage.

The emulsion of this invention, which is effective as a clouding agentin beverages etc., comprises an aqueous emulsion containing about 38weight percent of the whole citrus seed kernel paste, preferably about5-6 weight percent, and about 3-8 weight percent, preferably 5-6 weightpercent gum acacia. bout 4-9 weight percent of a suitable flavoring oil,for example, derived from the same fruit as the seeds, can also beadded. Sufficient coloring matter to impart the desired natural tint tothe emulsion can also be included. For example, about 1.5 to 4 weightpercent food dye can be dissolved in about 10 weight percent propyleneglycol. All weight percents are based on the total weight of the finalaqueous emulsion.

The emulsions can advantageously be prepared in accordance with thefollowing procedure: (I) Weigh out the amount of gum acacia, cloudingagent and wet with the flavoring oil. (2) Add 100 ml water andthoroughly mix. (3) Dissolve the coloring matter in the propylene glycoland add 50 ml water. (4) Add this mixture to the oil-gum-water basemixture and mix with sufficient water to give 238 ml (8 oz). (5) Passthe entire mixture through a colloid mill in order to properly dispersethe emulsion and reduce the particle size to 2 microns or less. Thisformulation can be used in the ratio of 2 ounces of emulsion to 1 gallonof syrup.

in a preferred embodiment of the present invention it has been foundadvantageous to reduce the fact content of the seed kernels preferablyby about 50 percent to aid in reduction of ring formation upon storageof the emulsion. This ring formation has been found in all drinks whichcontain citrus seed meal and various fat as well as glycerated rosinemulsion. Generally this problem is greater with increased fat contentin the emulsion. Ring fonnation can be also reduced by the inclusion inthe finished emulsion of about 2.5 weight percent polyoxyethylenesorbitan monooleate or any other suitable dispersant which solubilizesthe fat as well as the flavoring oil.

Where reduction in the fat content of the seed kernels is desired, thiscan be effected by first solvent extracting substantially all of theseed oil from the seed and then reconstituting the defatted seed mealwith a reduced amount of original seed oil or other fatty material. Asuitable solvent, for exampie, for this solvent extraction is acetone,hexane, etc.

Cloud retention of these various products prepared as shown in Table lwas compared measuring the percent light transmittance in a FisherElectrophotometer II with a 650 mp. filter. Distilled water was used asa 100 percent transmittance blank. Beverages prepared in accordance withthe formula shown in Table l were run in triplicate and the averagevalues for percent light transmittance as related to time of storage aregiven in Table 2. These data show that the beverages utilizing wholecitrus seed kernels and glycerated rosin emulsion gave the bestretention of cloud as determined by the percent light transmittance at650 mg. The degree of clarification in these two products was less than59 percent. Citrus seed meal plus 50 percent of the seed oil normallypresent in whole seed ker- TABLE 1.FORMULATION FOR CITRUS BEVERAGESBasic orange oil emulsion 75% defatted L Bromi- Glycerdefatted Wholehated sted Citrus citrus citrus citrus sesame rosin seed seed seed seedControl oil emulsion meal meal meal kernels Florida orange oil, g 15. 6O15. 6O 15. 60 15. 60 15.60 15.60

Citrus Seed oil, g

Gum acacia, g Food color Propylene glycol, ml Water, 8 02., to make, ml

Bottling syrup 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 37 3.7 37 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 37 3.7 0. 90. 24 0. 24 0. 24 0. 24 0. 24 l). 24 O. 24 23B 238 238 238 238 238 238Beverages 1% oz. (62 ml.) bottling syrup to a 12 01.. (355 ml.) bottleSodium imnzoate.

0,29 g./l2 oz. (365 ml.) 1/10 of 1% as preservative. Carbonated water:1% to 2 vol. gas.

TABLE 2 [Comparison of cloud retention in citrus beverages utilizingcitrus seed and commercial clouding agents] Fisher eluctrophotometer IIPercent T at 050 my torage time at room temp., \vks 1 2 3 4 5 0 8 1O 12C. 1. Florida orange oil 63. 0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100. 0100.0 100.0 100.0 Citrus seed meal 67. 8 86. 5 96. 3 08. l) 08. 0 110.0.10. 6 JG. 2 10. 3 0i). 7

Citrus seed meal plus 25% seed oil 28. .2 74. 5 75. 6 06. 0 75-. 5 76. 876. 3 78. 2 70. 1 70. 8

Citrus seed meal plus 50% seed oil. 26. 3 00. 3 07.0 66. 5 65. 5 66. 3(i6. 4 06.1 65. (i 05.7

Whole citrus seed kernels H .24. 6 50. 5 56. 8 66. 0 54. 7 54. 4 52. 8515. 0 56. 3 54. 3

Brommated sesame oil 19. 7 55.1 47. 8 53. 3 55. 3 58. 3 60. 2 61. 2 61.8 61. ii Ulyeerated rosin emulsion 28. 3 40. 8 49. 7 48. 0 40. 6 47. 752.1 54. 6 54.1 -18. 8

Percent light transmittance (T) is the average value for triplicateruns.

nels was equivalent to brominated sesame oil and gave light 5, Th l diagent f lai 1 he ei the itr eed transmittance values less than 69percent which are considered to show only slight clarification. The 75percent defatted citrus seed meal showed definite clarification whilecompletely defatted citrus seed meal and coldpressed Florida orange oilby itself showed extreme clarification and were consideredunsatisfactory for beverage use.

The examples shown demonstrate the effectiveness of citrus seed cloudingagents in beverages. However, for the purpose of this invention, theseproducts are not solely limited to beverages; since, they are a naturalfood constituent and may be used in any other food product where cloudis desirable; such as pickles, candies,jams, and jellies, dairyproducts, etc.

It is claimed:

1. A clouding agent for foodstufis, comprising an aqueous emulsion whichcomprises about 3-8 weight percent ground whole citrus seed kernels andabout 2-8 weight percent gum acacia, said citrus seed kernels having hadrag and pulp particles removed therefrom.

2. The clouding agent of claim 1 which contains about 5-6 weight percentwhole citrus seed kernels and about 5-6 weight percent gum acacia.

3. The clouding agent of claim 1 which also contains 4-9 weight percentflavoring oil and about 1.5 to 4 weight percent coloring matter.

4. The clouding agent of claim 1 wherein the fat content of the seedkernels has been reduced by about 50 percent.

kernels are derived from citrus fruits selected from the groupconsisting of oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, lemons and limes.

6. The clouding agent of claim 3 wherein the seed kernels and theflavoring oil are derived from oranges.

7. A process for preparing clouding agents for foodstuffs whichcomprises washing whole citrus seed kernels to remove rag and pulpparticles, screening and drying said whole citrus seeds, removing thebulls from said seeds, grinding the resulting seed kernels into a paste,and forming an aqueous emulsion containing about 3-8 weight percent ofsaid seed kernel paste, along with about 3-8 weight percent gum acacia.

8. The process of claim 7 wherein substantially all of the fat contentof said seed kernels is removed from said seed paste by solventextraction and a reduced amount of said extracted seed oil subsequentlyreconstituted into the defatted seed meal paste.

9. The process of claim 8 wherein about percent of the original fatcontent of the seed kernels is reconstituted into the seed kernel paste.

10. The clouding agent of claim 1 wherein in the hulls have also beenremoved from said seed kernels prior to grinding.

1 1. The clouding agent of claim 1 wherein said seed kernels have beendefatted and debittered prior to grinding.

2. The clouding agent of claim 1 which contains about 5-6 weight percentwhole citrus seed kernels and about 5-6 weight percent gum acacia. 3.The clouding agent of claim 1 which also contains 4-9 weight percentflavoring oil and about 1.5 to 4 weight percent coloring matter.
 4. Theclouding agent of claim 1 wherein the fat content of the seed kernelshas been reduced by about 50 percent.
 5. The clouding agent of claim 1wherein the citrus seed kernels are derived from citrus fruits selectedfrom the group consisting of oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, lemons andlimes.
 6. The clouding agent of claim 3 wherein the seed kernels and theflavoring oil are derived from oranges.
 7. A process for preparingclouding agents for foodstuffs which comprises washing whole citrus seedkernels to remove rag and pulp particles, screening and drying saidwhole citrus seeds, removing the hulls from said seeds, grinding theresulting seed kernels into a paste, and forming an aqueous emulsioncontaining about 3-8 weight percent of said seed kernel paste, alongwith about 3-8 weight percent gum acacia.
 8. The process of claim 7wherein substantially all of the fat content of said seed kernels isremoved from said seed paste by solvent extraction and a reduced amountof said extracted seed oil subsequently reconstituted into the defattedseed meal paste.
 9. The process of claim 8 wherein about 50 percent ofthe original fat content of the seed kernels is reconstituted into theseed kernel paste.
 10. The clouding agent of claim 1 wherein in thehulls have also been removed from said seed kernels prior to grinding.11. The clouding agent of claim 1 wherein said seed kernels have beendefatted and debittered prior to grinding.